Saint Teresa Of Avila Analysis

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Throughout her life, Saint Teresa of Avila is confronted with her own corrupt human nature and sees that she herself is innately evil and desires to give into wickedness. Once she becomes a nun and decides to dedicate her life to God, she starts to turn away from her human nature in order to turn to God, but she recognizes that is is still a part of her and only God can transform her wickedness and help her to do good. Teresa learns that while human nature is inherently bent towards sin and wickedness, God can redeem one's nature because He is the source of all human flourishing.
Teresa’s view on human nature is far from the shining optimism of Aquinas, instead she believed that humans were naturally inclined towards wickedness, though there
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After she has her vision of hell, she says that she “does not know how we can look calmly on [tortures] that are endless, and see the devil carrying off as many souls as he does everyday” (235). If this is true, then one should work as hard as possible to save as many souls as possible from the eternal torture of hell, reaching out to them and sharing the story of Christ in order to help them reach salvation. However, Teresa seems to desire to do the exact opposite of this. On the very next page in her book she says that she “wanted to avoid human company, and finally to withdraw completely from the world” (236). How does Teresa justify these two seemingly conflicting desires to be completely removed from people while also believing all people need to be saved from the damnation of hell? Teresa discovers the benefits of solitude early in her life, when she spends 9 months in solitude. Though this does not altogether free her from her natural sin nature, it does draw her closer to God (35-36). Later, when she is ill, she says her “sole anxiety… was to get well in order to pray in solitude” (45). She even refers to solitude as her “chief comfort” (180). There is one point at which she said that going to a prison cell would have been a “great joy” because it meant that she could “rest for a while alone” (269). The reasoning behind this is that “dealing with people had… worn [her] out” (270). Solitude is of great value because it is a means of providing her with rest and with renewing her soul. It also allows her to grow close to God and to connect with Him on a personal level. For Teresa, solitude is a comfort and a blessing that she actively seeks out, and there is much good that comes from it. So, seeing as solitude is beneficial, how does one find the balance between solitude and service to